College golf's fall signing season ended 10 days ago, and as expected, the powerhouse Sunbelt schools feasted on the best. Texas snapped up Scottie Scheffler, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings from the high school class of 2014, as well as the No. 5 and No. 25 prospects. Arizona snared No. 2 George Cunningham and another top 50-player. North Carolina signed two blue chippers in the top 12. And so forth.

But wait, what's this? The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where it was 26 degrees that morning with snow in the forecast, signed No. 9 Dylan Meyer, No. 18 Nick Hardy and another top-100 prospect. Purdue (mid-20s in Lafayette, Ind.) signed No. 22 on the list. Northwestern (30 in Evanston, Ill.) took No. 65 plus a highly sought recruit from China. It had already enrolled, as a freshman this fall, reigning U.S. Amateur champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England.

On the women's side, Northwestern, Illinois, Michigan State and other Northern schools had similar recruiting success this fall.

One reason elite young players with pro-tour aspirations are choosing to play their college golf in blizzard country is the arms race in luxurious new indoor practice facilities.

Just as important, though, is a philosophical approach on the part of Northern school coaches that views weather-bound training in the icy months as a positive, rather than an impediment. It is something that recreational golfers in the North, preparing for their own wintry off-seasons, might keep in mind.

"Weather for sure is our biggest obstacle in recruiting against the Southern schools," said Illinois men's coach Mike Small. "But we believe strongly that for certain players with certain mind-sets, the atmosphere and the coaching up here is going to help them become better players faster than they would if they went to some place with warm weather."

ENLARGE

The University of Illinois' practice facility.
University of Illinois

Illinois, it is worth pointing out, finished second to Alabama in last spring's NCAA Championship. It is one of only six schools that has made it to the 30-team NCAA team finals for six years running, including 2010 when Scott Langley, now on the PGA Tour, won the individual championship. Steve Stricker, Luke Guthrie and D.A. Points are among five Illinois alumni on the Tour.

That is well short of Georgia and Georgia Tech, which combined to have 19 alumni on Tour, or Arizona and Arizona State with 13 total, but it is the same number that Texas has, and more than that of North Carolina, Wake Forest, Florida State, Alabama, Texas A&M and California-Berkeley, according to data provided by the PGA Tour.

Illinois was the first Big Ten university to build a state-of-the-art indoor practice palace for its teams. The 14,150-square-foot Demirjian Golf Practice Facility features a 6,300-square-foot putting, chipping and pitching area, including sand bunkers and different strains of artificial grass to mimic the playing conditions the teams face in competition; six heated hitting bays which open onto the range, so players can see the full arc of their shots even in coldest January; and team locker rooms, coaches offices and a spacious team lounge where players can watch Golf Channel or study.

Demirjian, which cost $5.2 million, opened in 2007. "That was huge," said Small. "We improved so much that winter, the team shot lower scores in our first two tournaments in February than we had averaged in the fall."

At least six other Big Ten schools have opened similar facilities since then, and Ohio State is scheduled to open a colossal one in January at its famed Alister MacKenzie Scarlet Course. I toured this 20,800-square-foot structure, still under construction, in October. The short-game hitting area, big enough to service a Space Shuttle, will allow pitch shots up to 50 yards.

Small thinks 40 yards, the limit at the Demirjian building, is all you need for effective short-game practice: "Below the threshold of 40 yards, it's all about creativity and imagination. Longer than that is distance control, which you can work on by hitting a bucket of balls from inside to outside at the bays."

Practicing in a "static environment," Small believes, is ideal for working on pure technique and building confidence in the winter. "When you go outside, some days it's rainy or windy. The greens are slow one day and fast the next. But indoors you build precision. You know exactly what's you, and what is caused by conditions," he said.

Northwestern golf coach Pat Goss is an equally staunch believer in the value of off-season, indoor work. "If I were to go coach golf where the weather was good all year, I would have to rethink what I do. Because for us, the winter indoor part is really our best chance, as coaches, to make our guys different, better players. It's the only time of the year, when they aren't competing and playing all the time, for our players to show up every day and work on their skill sets, improve their fundamentals," he said.

At the end of the fall season, in early November, Goss and his staff study each player's statistics and sit down with them to work out a detailed training program for the off season. "Whatever it is they need to do to really make a jump in their game, whatever is most difficult, most hard to do, the thing they can't really work on when they're going full competitive, that's what we focus on in the off-season," he said.

David Lipsky, a 2011 Northwestern graduate now playing on the Asian Tour, said the most valuable legacy of his college golf under Goss was learning to manage his practice time. "When I was growing up in Southern California, it was sunny every single day. So you almost took that for granted and didn't practice with the focus or intensity you do when it's cold outside and you have limited time," he said. "Indoors at Northwestern, we were always working on a very specific thing each day, addressing our weaknesses. I still apply that to my practice now."

It didn't hurt, either, that Luke Donald, class of 2001, would sometimes practice with the team, doing the same drills. "Their schedule is really no different than Luke's schedule," said Goss, who still coaches Donald on his short game and was his full game instructor until last year. "Luke learned that he needed 10 weeks a year away from golf to be at his best, the first four or five of those weeks without even hitting balls, and then in January or so, bearing down on specific skills."

That kind of balance, Goss believes, is another reason college golfers can benefit from a Northern school experience. After full time competition from March through October, including summers on their own in amateur tournaments, the off-season gives them a chance to recharge, work on their physical conditioning and get ahead with their academics.

Another plus: mental toughness from having to travel. Big Ten schools have to fly (south or to the West Coast) to almost all their competitions. As the spring season ramps up, they also frequently fly off for weekend practice sessions. This prepares them, the argument goes, for life on the pro tours.

"It's a grind out here, but I was prepared," Lipsky said by phone from the Indonesia Open in Djakarta, where he is competing this week. He won the Asian Tour qualifying school seven months after graduation and has been on the road ever since.

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